Niagara County Planning Board

Project Referral Requirements

New York State General Municipal Law requires cities, towns, and villages to refer certain actions to a county planning board for review and recommendation in order to address potential intercommunity and countywide concerns. The following actions are required to be referred to the Niagara County Planning Board by local municipalities:

Adoption or amendment of a local comprehensive plan

Adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance or local law

Issuance of a special use permit

Approval of a site plan

Granting of a use or area variance

Cities, towns, and villages are required to refer the above actions to the Niagara County Planning Board ONLY if the property is located within 500 feet of the following:

A city, town, or village boundary

The boundary of any existing or proposed county or state park or other recreation area

The right of way of any existing or proposed county or state roadway

The right of way of any existing or proposed county owned stream or drainage channel

The boundary of any county or state owned land that has a public building

The boundary of an active farm operation located in an agricultural district (area variances excluded)

Niagara County Planning Board Referral Map - Use this online map to search for an address. If the parcel intersects any of the buffer layers, then a project at that location likely requires Niagara County Planning Board review. Click the "Information" icon and "More Details" for more information and instructions.

Intermunicipal Agreements

The Niagara County Planning Board has intermunicipal agreements with most of the cities, towns, and villages in Niagara County. These agreements establish the specific actions that are required to be referred to the Niagara County Planning Board, while exempting other actions from referral on the basis that they are of local rather than intercommunity or countywide concern. The table below identifies the actions that each municipality must refer to the Niagara County Planning Board.

Project Review Process

The purpose of county planning board review is to bring attention to pertinent intercommunity and countywide planning, zoning, and site plan considerations, which may include:

Compatibility of adjacent land uses with one another especially near municipal borders

Traffic characteristics including impact on adjacent land uses and capacity of existing infrastructure

Impact on county or state institutional uses such as government buildings as well as other uses

Impact on community character as established by existing land uses, population density, relationship between residential and nonresidential areas, and community resources including natural, cultural, and historic resources

Impact on community facilities including educational facilities, community centers, recreation areas, etc.

Consistency with local and county development policies as outlined in community plans and regulations

Actions are referred to the Niagara County Planning Board for review through the local municipality. The Niagara County Planning Board must review the action within 30 days of receiving a full statement of the proposed action. A full statement means all materials required by and submitted to the referring municipality as part of the application, including a completed environmental assessment form. The County Planning Board will make a recommendation of approval, modification, or disapproval of the proposed action, or report that the proposed action has no significant countywide or intercommunity impact.

A recommendation of modification or disapproval requires a vote of majority plus one of all members of the applicable municipal review board in order to overrule the County’s recommendation. The referring municipality must file a report back to the County within 30 days of taking final action on the project.
For more information on the Niagara County Planning Board review process, please contact:

Meeting Schedule/Project Submission Deadlines

Regular meetings of the Niagara County Planning Board are held on the third Monday of every month, except when the third Monday is a holiday, in which case the regular meeting is held on the fourth Monday of the month. The deadline for municipalities to submit projects for Niagara County Planning Board review is ten (10) calendar days prior to the meeting date. All materials must be received by 4:00 pm on or before the submission deadline and any projects received after the deadline will be reviewed at the following month's meeting. Please refer to the official schedule below.

All regular monthly meetings are held at 2:00 pm in the offices of the Niagara County Department of Economic Development at the address listed below. All regular monthly meetings are open to the public. Project representatives need to attend the meeting on the date in which their project is scheduled for review in order to answer questions about the project.

Niagara County Planning Board Referral Form - form used by municipalities to refer projects to the Niagara County Planning Board for review and recommendation including a list of documents required to be submitted with each referral.

Notice of Final Action Form - form used by municipalities to provide the Niagara County Planning Board with notice of final action taken on the project - by law, this form must by filed within 30 days of final action by the local municipality.

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